Applications from international students fell after the State Department imposed restrictions on foreign students in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

　　软件公司甲骨文(Oracle)主管政府及公共事务的副总裁罗伯特o霍夫曼(Robert Hoffman)表示： "(美国的)大学院校能否招到全世界顶尖的人才，唯一最大的挑战在于我们的移民体系。"

　　"The single biggest challenge for colleges and universities being able to recruit top talent from around the world is our immigration system," said Robert Hoffman, the vice-president of government and public affairs at Oracle, the software company.

　　"该体系对招生工作来说是个障碍。它所表达的意思是：你或许能在美国大学里获得一流教育，但你毕业后可能无法在美国公司里找到一份好工作。"

　　"The system is working as a barrier to recruitment. It's saying: you might be able to get a top-flight education at a US university but you might not be able to get a top-flight job at a US company after you graduate."

　　调查发现，工程专业的入读学生总数下降2.5%，在很大程度上是因为外国学生数量的减少，但入读数学和物理学专业的学生总数小幅上升。入读上述三门学科的美国公民人数有所上升，但每门学科的学生增幅不足1%。

　　Total engineering enrolments fell by 2.5 per cent, largely because of a decline in foreign students, but total enrolments in mathematics and the physical sciences rose slightly, according to the survey. Enrolment of US citizens increased in all three categories but by less than 1 per cent in each.

　　商业圆桌会议(Business Roundtable)的教育及就业政策主管苏珊o崔曼(Susan Traiman)表示，她感到担忧的是，随着英国和澳大利亚等其它国家纷纷提高自己在研究生教育方面的投资，并发起招募国内外优秀学生的攻势，美国研究生院正失去其在吸引外国最优秀人才方面的优势。

　　Susan Traiman, the director of education and workforce policy at the Business Roundtable, said she was concerned that US graduate schools were losing their edge in attracting the most talented foreign students, as other countries, such as the UK and Australia, boosted their investment in graduate education and embarked on campaigns to recruit top domestic and international students.

　　她表示： "这些数字似乎表明，目前顶尖人才有更多的选择。"

　　"What these numbers seem to be saying is that top talent has many more options now," she said.

　　"如果没有数量足够的美国学生进入这些领域，同时如果没有外国人才来填补这些空白，这将有损美国的创新能力--而这正是美国竞争力的根本所在。"

　　"If we don't have enough Americans going into these fields, and if we don't have the foreign talent to fill the gaps, it jeopardises US innovation - and that is the underpinning of American competitiveness."